ROYAL PALACE OF MADRID

The Palacio Real de Madrid (literally: Royal Palace of Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family at the city of Madrid, but is only used for state ceremonies. King Felipe VI and the Royal Family do not reside in the palace, choosing instead the more modest Palacio de la Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid.

On Christmas Eve 1734, the Alcázar was destroyed by a fire originating in the rooms of the French painter Jean Ranc. It was not detected quickly, due to the warning bells being confused with the call to mass. For fear of looting, the doors of the building remained closed, hampering rescue efforts. Many works of art were lost, such as the Expulsion of the Moors, by Diego Velázquez. Others, such as Las Meninas, were rescued by tossing them out the windows. Fortunately, many pieces were saved because the king ordered that much of his collection be moved to the Buen Retiro Palace shortly before the blaze. This fire lasted four days and completely destroyed the old Alcázar, whose last walls were finally demolished in 1738.

Filippo Juvarra oversaw work on the new palace. The Italian architect devised a lavish project of enormous proportions inspired by Bernini's plans for Versailles. This plan was not realized due to Juvarra's untimely death in March 1736.^[3]:8 His disciple, Giambattista Sacchetti also known as Juan Bautista Sacchetti or Giovanni Battista Sacchetti,^[8] was chosen to continue the work of his mentor. He designed the structure around a large square courtyard and resolved the sightline problems by creating projecting wings.

The palace has 135,000 square metres (1,450,000 sq ft) of floorspace and contains 3,418 rooms.^[5][6] It is the largest royal palace in Europe by floor area. The interior of the palace is notable for its wealth of art and the use of many types of fine materials in the construction and the decoration of its rooms. These include paintings by artists such as Caravaggio, Velázquez and Francisco de Goya and frescoes by Corrado Giaquinto, Juan de Flandes, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo and Anton Raphael Mengs. Other collections of great historical and artistic importance preserved in the building include the Royal Armoury of Madrid, Porcelain, Watches, Furniture, Silverware and the world's only complete Stradivarius string quintet.

BULLFIGHTING

Bullfighter Paquirri gored by bull in Huesca

• 11 August 2015
 
• From the section Europe

Image captionThe number of bullfights in Spain continues to fall, but many defend the tradition

A leading Spanish bullfighter is in a serious condition after being gored by a bull, according to a regional government official.

Francisco Rivera Ordonez, known as Paquirri, was hurt while taking part in a bullfight in the north-eastern town of Huesca on Monday.

Doctors said the bull's horn sank 25cm (10in) into Paquirri's groin. 

In 1984, his father - also known as Paquirri - died after being gored in a fight in the city of Cordoba.

As well as his father, Paquirri's grandfather and brother belong to the family bullfighting dynasty.

In a 2008 profile, CBS News said the two brothers were the leading lights in "a new generation of matadors in Spain who bring more excitement and more spectators into the bullring than there's been for some time".

Image captionDoctors said the bull's horn sank 25cm (10in) into Paquirri's groin

In February 2009, Paquirri was awarded a Fine Arts medal by Spain's culture ministry.

El Pais newspaper said (in Spanish) that the injury also damaged Paquirri's abdomen, but his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

About 2,000 bullfights are still held every year in Spain, but the numbers are falling. In 2010, Catalonia became the second Spanish region after the Canary Islands to ban the tradition.

Opponents describe the blood-soaked pageants as barbaric, while fans - including Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy - say the tradition is an ancient art form deeply rooted in national history.

Last year, a major bullfighting event in Madrid was cancelled after all three matadors were gored.

OLIVE OIL IN SPAIN

The cultivation of olives and the production of olive oil have deep roots in the history of Spain. The olive, a symbol of peace, and the tree which produces olives (olea europea) are known to have been cultivated around the Mediterranean about 6000 years ago. Its origin could be the eastern Mediterranean, but most probably it originated in Greece. Stone tablets found dating back to 2500 BC from the court of King Minos of Crete make reference to this plant.

The olive tree was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by the Phoenicians and the Greeks. Olive cultivation was expanded considerably by the Romans, who also improved the techniques of oil production. Olive oil from Hispania was highly regarded by the inhabitants of Old Rome, as well as by the rest of the Roman Empire, that considered it of superior quality.

Later, the Arabs continued perfecting the technique of olive oil production. The importance of the Arab influence is evident by the fact that the Spanish word for oil - aceite - comes from the Arabic - al-zat-, or olive juice. As a result of a stable, thousand-year-old tradition, today Spain is the major producer and exporter of olive oil in the world.

Nevertheless, until a few years ago, Spanish olive oil was relatively unknown since almost all of it was sold by bulk and packaged outside the country. Today, gradually, oil producers, and especially those of the best quality oil, are packaging and placing their own names on the bottles, just as the producers of California wine are now selling more and more of their wine as their own product instead of selling the grapes. This is increasing considerably the knowledge and admiration for Spanish olive oil as an exceptional product.

Finally, the benefits of olive oil should be mentioned: through its oleic acid, it helps to reduce the level of bad cholesterol and increase the level of good cholesterol, it has a high contribution of Vitamin E, which prevents arteriosclerosis, and helps to reduce blood pressure, thereby helping to prevent thrombosis.

Torre del Oro

The Tower of Gold was built 1220-1221, by order of the Almohad governor of Seville, Abu l-Ulà, with a twelve-sided base. It barred the way to the Arenal district with a section of wall joining it to the Tower of Silver, a part of the city walls that defended the Alcazar.  There is a false tradition that a heavy chain went across the river from this tower to another located on the modern-day Fortaleza (Fortress) Street in Triana.  The name Torre del Oro clearly comes from the gleam of lime mortar and straw that the building displayed. 
As of 2008 the museum displayed a variety of old navigational instruments and models, as well as historical documents, engravings, and nautical charts, relating Seville to the Guadalquivir River and the sea. The tower was again restored in 2005.

SPAIN INFORMATION

Get to know Spain! Get the facts about its land, products and culture.

Official name: Kingdom of Spain

Size: 195,124 square miles (505,370 square kilometers); slightly more than twice the size of Oregon

Population:  46,754,784 as of July 2011

Population Under Age 14: 15.1%

Capital: Madrid

Official Language: Castilian Spanish

Currency: Euro (EUR)

Religion: 94 % Roman Catholic, 6% Other

Literacy: 97.9%

Climate: Cold winters, hot summers in the inland areas; more temperate seasonsalong the coast

Agriculture products: grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus, beef, pork, poultry, dairy products, fish

Industries: textiles and apparel, food and beverages, metals, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism, clay products, footwear, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment

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Our Last Meeting, January 6, 2016

Our last meeting was very interesting with Sarah Cannon as our guest speaker.  I have had the privilege of knowing her personally and traveling with her.  She is an amazing, ambitious young lady.  She is also very dedicated to her aspirations of helping the people of Nicaragua.  As she spoke the other evening, Sarah truely conveyed her feelings and love for traveling and helping people.  I was really excited to hear her speak again.  Her positive energy reached out to everyone in attendance.        We also went over very interesting information about our trip in five weeks!  Packing, Euros, passports,  so much to do....time will fly by!  Also, we had our book review of Driving Over Lemons...that went as well as to be expected.  The majority of us really did not care for the book.  However, I think we all agreed that the book did lend itself to a great insight of what it is like to move to another country and make it your new home.  Scary thought!

WINDMILLS

La Mancha Windmills

La Mancha’s windmills were famously captured in Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote, when the bumbling knight of the title rushes the windmills, thinking they’re giants.